Morning News Briefing

City Council hears community over controversial new abortion law.
Proponents of both pro-life and pro-choice attended the City Council meeting in Batavia last night to be heard by council members regarding the recent Reproductive Health Act passed by the state and a letter of opposition that city council was considering sending to Governor Cuomo.
Every seat in City Hall was filled with dozens of people standing as well.
Pro-choice and Planned Parenthood supporter Nikki Calhoun of Le Roy was one of the first to speak…

U.S. Marine Chris Connelly of Batavia initially made the request for council to send a letter of opposition two weeks ago and returned last night with a strikingly bolder statement…

Pro-Life speaker Brittany Connelly of Batavia called for the abolishment of abortion and encouraged Council to do more than send a letter…

Amber Hainey of Mount Morris, a Planned Parenthood supporter, made an emotional plea for Council members to leave the topic alone…

Ultimately Council decided not to ask City Manager Moore to pen the letter and President Eugene Jankowski suggested a council member draft it for it to be discussed later at a conference meeting.
Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian said she would write the letter to be considered by council.

For more on the story check the article by our news partner The Batavian.

Batavia Sex Offender facing felony charges for failing to register.
52 year old Scott Hinze of West Main Street Road was apprehended by Genesee County Sheriff’s Deputies following investigation alleging that he failed to register his address as a sex offender with the state’s registry.
Hinze was also accused of falsifying his sex offender address change document while at the Genesee County Jail.
He is now facing felony counts of Sex Offender failing to report and falsifying Business Records and was issued appearance tickets for March 5th in Batavia City Court.

Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect.
Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming Counties remain under Winter Weather Advisory until 10 p.m. tonight according to the National Weather Service.
They are predicting up to 6 inches of total snow accumulation and ice accumulations of around one tenth of an inch.
Forecasters are saying travel could be very difficult for the evening commute.

A Wind Advisory is going into effect tomorrow.
The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a Wind Advisory, which is in effect from 1 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday for parts of Western New York including Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming counties.
Southwest winds from 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph are being predicted.
The high winds may bring down tree limbs and result in isolated power outages and forecasters advise that travel in high profile vehicles will be difficult at times.

The battle over marijuana legalization is starting to heat up.
Some folks against the idea were in Albany yesterday urging lawmakers to vote against it if they get the chance.
Opponents say they’re worried legalizing marijuana would lead to higher use of the drug by school-age kids.
Governor Cuomo says he’d like to see a vote on the issue by the end of this year’s legislative session.